The Medway Towns in 1965 

I was 19 in 1965, this brings back memories of a far better time... a time when people pulled together and you could actually speak to someone on the phone...

This was what my Dad knew when he was 18 in 1965. He took us to all these towns in the 1980s.

This takes me back to the medway towns when it was a nice place to live

Greetings from Western Australia. I was born in Chatham 84 years ago and went to Sir Joseph Williamsons Mathematiclal School (The Math) when it was in Rochester High Street. It was great to see the original school and the view of pupils and masters on parade. Also it was fantastic to see some masters from when I was there including the chemistry master with whom I shared a mutual intense dislike lol. Great to see the whole interesting video. My regards to all.

my dad went to the maths school, i went to fort pitt, upsets me to see my home town full of foreigners now, the high street is destroyed

Suddenly I remembered my mother going to Rochester Markets in the early 60's. Thanks for this.

Looks like the Math School Founders Day. We hated it... it was the only Saturday of the year we were required to go to school. I still live nearby, and without wishing to be controversial, it bears no resemblance to how it was back in my days (the 70s).

Very interesting,so many High St names now disappeared and to see up and down traffic in Chatham High St.Thanks for posting.

To judge from the films being shown at the cinemas, this footage must have been shot in 1965 (as mentioned elsewhere). I grew up here and would have been 12 that year. It tugs at my heart to see the place as I remember it and 5 years or so before the major "redevelopment" campaign began... Before the Medway Towns were hacked to pieces by a totally ruthless, and often downright stupid, rebuilding program (including, for instance, the demolition of the medieval Star Inn and the loss of the beautiful weather-boarded houses along New Road, to say nothing of the elegant, old town houses facing the castle). And they even demolished Dickens' childhood home in Ordnance Terrace, later renumbering the houses. This fact is often denied. Problem is, I watched them doing it in 1971-2...

I was six and recognized most of the places shown.

I worked in Rochester, lived in Gillingham 1990-97. Can't say the place had changed much from the 1960s. Interesting times, but I'd be in no hurry to move back.

Ha, the year I went to Sherwin Knight and used to to walk to Temple Manor as a school outing and there's the church I was Christened in -- I wonder if my brand new 2p piece is still hidden on that bridge And the traffic is going the wrong way in Rochester high street, oh, wait a sec. Those were the days when it was two-way which was fun when you were on a bus. Those shops and sooo many boats and ships ... Nice vid - thanks for those memories

Fantastic film the good old days

A better time for a proud Medway, brings back childhood memories, thank you for sharing.

Thankyou for sharing.. really enjoyed this. A little bit before my time (I’m a 1972) but lovely to see how my parents would have experienced it. Thankyou again!

I used to go to Upnor sailing club with my friend and her posh parents who had a yacht there its brought back the memories of summer days.

Quite amazing footage and just a glimpse of what the river would have been like in its heyday. The very hub of the towns most and industry deriving from it. Incredible and poignant at the same time and an era lost and a way of life destroyed.

Great nostalgia

Brilliant piece of film takes me back.

Thank you, brings back childhood memories! Great footage!

boy they were exciting times in the towns in the 60's

shame no footage of Gillingham, but loved it.

Yes, no newly arrived Deliveroo riders from East Africa then.

Wow! Fantastic, as I remember it…

I went to Maths at the new campus and even in 1976 we still had to walk down Rochester-Maidstone Rd to the church every year!!! What were the prefects wearing on their heads that look like yamulkes?? I wish we were able to focus on the teachers more it was very hard for me to recognize any. Surely Mr Purle, Stan Braxton, Jardin and others were there???

Wow! Thanks for sharing. Absolutely fascinating

4.00 - 4.26 Sir Joseph Williamsons Maths school. the building was demolished in the late 1960's the site is now Blue Boar car park in Rochester.

I’ve been searching for a long time for an old picture of the building at 6:52, I always thought the artists who’d painted two windows were just being lazy! Today there’s 5 on each side

RIP

Greasy spoon opposite good memories

No migrants to be seen, those were the days!

Hi Ron, I am in the process of editing a video set to a reimagining of Emmylou Harris' Red Dirt Girl (a country song which is about a working class girl born in the Southern town of Meridian on the border of Alabama and Mississippi). I have changed the lyrics to make it the story of a girl born in Medway. I would like to use some clips of the above footage in the accompanying video if I am able to obtain permission to do so. Would that be OK, please? Many thanks, Heather

Snooty shop keepers in Rochester high st got rid of our market

Amazing footage. Could I speak to you about using some clips of yours in a documentary I'm making about Medway? It's a passion project and I would of course say the clips are yours etc :) I will send you an email, thank you.

Wow Medway has fallen off since then

was there no audio for it brill footage of Medway

My nan is in this how strange!

Needs information on what we are looking at, exposure totally off. Cheap cine camera?

As someone who lives in medway it's plain to see that the place has always been a sh#t hole! Quite comforting really 😂

Lovely piece of amateur film making